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Reveived empty box in the mail
The USPS lost my box over the holiday weekend, it had been cut open and the contents stolen. It was a $5k item. The seller didn't insure it. The post office opened an investigation, but they refuse to provide any documentation or reference for me. I called the police to the post office as proof. They all told me to start a claim with ebay, but the USPS just updated the status to "delivered." What can I do if they called me in to the post office hand me an empty box they said had been cut open and emptied at the post office?? The seller neglected to insure it and now I have to find a way to get my $5k back.
6 comments
mr_lincoln
Mentor8 months agoHi @dirkniblek
Don't discount that the Seller may have dropped the empty box off for shipment in the drop off lane or mail box at the Post Office and USPS simply sent it through their system because the label was paid for. I am not sure how much additional cost Insurance would be for a 5K item and any Seller in their right mind would want to insure the package incase it is lost or stolen (the package that is). Insurance is for the Seller NOT the customer, just so you know.
Here's the other issue, eBay REQUIRES Signature confirmation when printing labels though eBay for items sold for over $ 750.00. It does NOT sound like your local USPS office asked you for a signature on that shipment right? The Seller could have easily purchased a label on another postage site without having to include the value of the shipment and the insurance would default to the built-in $ 100 on USPS Priority Mail and ground advantage services. This sound more like mail fraud against the Seller than a stolen item by a Postal worker.
Before you resort to filing a dispute with your funding source (because once you do eBay washes their hands of the situation) you need to file an official return accusing the Seller of sending you an empty box.
What you received "does not match pictures or description".
You can report a Seller here: Report an issue with a seller | eBay
You are protected by the eBay Money Back Guarantee for 30 days from the date of receipt: eBay Money Back Guarantee policy
Go to the item in your Purchase history and file a RETURN using the reason "Does not match pictures or description". eBay will issue you a pre-paid return shipping label regardless of the Seller's return policy. You return the item and the Seller will have 2 days to refund you. Failing that you go back to the claim and ask eBay to step in and force the refund.
If the Seller does not refund you within 2 days of getting the item back you can ask eBay to step in ... if they fail to refund you then file a dispute with your funding source.
dirkniblek
OP8 months agoCorrect, they didn't ask a signature from me because I had called the police and we were all there at the postal counter going through the investigation process. They did, however, hand me the empty box, saying they have everything they need from it for the investigation already, so it was irrelevant to them whether I took the box at this time. I felt helpless because they wouldn't let me have any documentation about the event whatsoever, since they're "internal" documents they aren't allowed to release, so aside from an open case with the police, I have no physical evidence besides the enoty, re-taped box, but I don't know what that proves. I just contacted the seller and also clicked "return item / item doesn't match description" and said that all I got was an uninsured empty box that had been cut open and re-taped. What should I do next?
mr_lincoln
Mentor8 months ago@dirkniblek
If that is an official eBay return claim you should be issued a pre-paid return label from eBay and will need to provide a picture of the box for the claim. Ship it back with the eBay provided label, follow the tracking. The Seller will have 2 days to refund you, if they fail that then go to the claim and ask eBay to step in.
You can ask at the Post office if that label on the package required a signature or you can look at the label and it might indicate that.
dirkniblek
OP8 months agoThank you for that. The shipping label says "USPS SIGNATURE TRACKING #" and they did mention, when I kept coming back to see if they found the package yet, that only a signature was required (after I became incredulous that the seller would send something that expensive without insurance). They never did, however, have me sign anything for it, other than the pickup slip, which I also still have and they didn't want. I saw in another forum that sellers are encouraged to report fraud if a buyer sends an empty box to get a refund. I suppose that's a moot point if I already told them the box I received was empty?
mr_lincoln
Mentor8 months ago@dirkniblek
You have to exhaust all avenues with eBay before moving on to filing a dispute with your funding source. The seller is not involved at this point are they? If and when you file a dispute with your funding source you will be able to reference the Police report and everything else that happened.
dirkniblek
OP8 months agoThe seller company refuses to reply to the request for return, or my contact attempts via "contact seller". Their company website also has a phone number that puts you into a hold queue for an hour before putting you to voicemail, and they don't return calls. I haven't done anything concerning a dispute with my funding source, but I'm considering filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and will certainly leave a negative review.